Metra moves toward ending cash tickets
Cash ticket sales on board Metra trains could become a thing of the past, as the commuter rail service moves to sell more tickets through automated vending machines at rail stations.
A $70 million contract for new ticket vending machines will help make that happen. It could also lead to the end of the remaining ticket agents at stations, and is one step toward a possible new system requiring proof that a ticket has been purchased before boarding a train and fines for passengers found without tickets, Metra officials said.
Metra plans to eventually put a ticket machine at every station, but doesn’t yet have a timeline for when they will all be in place.
To start, Metra plans to purchase 225 ticket machines from California-based VenTek International. Some will replace existing ticket machines at downtown stations and the busiest stations on the Metra Electric line, and some will replace the credit card machines used by agents at dozens of stations.
Some will also go to other stations and could be used to test the requirement that passengers purchase a ticket before boarding a train or risk a fine. Metra has not made a final decision about whether to move to the fine system, Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said.
The first wave of machines are set to be installed beginning mid-2022 and are expected to take about a year to fully put in place, Metra said.
A second phase calls for purchasing 350 more ticket machines, which would allow Metra to put one at every station. When those are fully in place will depend on when Metra chooses to exercise its second phase option.
The machines are ADA-accessible, and accept cash or credit cards, Metra said. Eventually, they could accept Ventra cards.
Once every station has a ticket machine, Metra plans to end cash sales on trains, Gillis said. It also intends to phase out the remaining ticket agents at all locations, relying instead on the new ticket machines and the agency’s Ventra app, Gillis said. Staff would likely remain available to help with the ticket machines at the busiest stations.
Most Metra stations do not have agents, and most of those that do have agents are staffed only in the morning, Metra said.
The ticket machines could help connect Metra fares to those for CTA or Pace buses, CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski said in a statement.
“These machines will allow Metra to meet a long-standing goal of eliminating cash sales of tickets onboard trains, and all the accounting hassles and safety issues that go with onboard cash sales,” he said in a statement. “But they also will do much, much more, such as make tickets easier and more convenient to purchase, reduce person-to-person contact, speed up fare validation, reduce missed sales, reduce fare evasion, reduce printing costs, and allow for more flexible and promotional ticketing.”
The vast majority of Metra customers in October bought tickets through the Ventra app. About 14% purchased tickets from a conductor on a train, and another 14% bought tickets from an agent, according to Metra. About 2% used a ticket vending machine.
Early in the pandemic, Metra stopped validating or selling tickets on its 11 train lines for several months. The agency resumed in-person ticket sales last summer, but the Union Pacific, which operates three Metra lines, continued to refuse to allow its conductors into the aisles to punch tickets, citing COVID-19 safety concerns.
The agency previously said it missed out on $1 million a month in lost ticket revenue during that time. Gillis could not provide a total dollar amount for how much Metra lost.
Manned ticket verification booths were eventually installed on the platforms at Ogilvie Transportation Center, and commuters boarding or disembarking there were required to show a valid ticket or their Ventra app. Union Pacific resumed collecting fares on trains in June.
Gillis said the move toward automated ticket vending machines was unrelated to the Union Pacific’s fare collection decision.